Biden said he recently talked to a French president who has been dead for nearly three decades

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre refused to explain Joe Biden's comments about a French president who has been dead for nearly three decades .

A reporter asked about Biden 's mental health after he said he recently talked to a former French president about the January 6 Capitol breach.

A glaring issue with that recollection is that François Mitterrand , who served as president of France from 1981 to 1995 , is dead since 1996 .